March 1, 2010

Nursing home safety push stepped up by Illinois government

The Chicago nursing home attorneys at Levin & Perconti are happy to share that the State of Illinois is stepping up its nursing home safety push, according to a recent Chicago Tribune article. The Illinois Attorney General stated that her office and the local police are working to protect Illinois nursing home residents by visiting Chicago and Illinois nursing homes unannounced and also conducting safety checks at troubled Illinois nursing homes.

Chicago police have joined forces with investigators and medical experts from the Illinois Attorney General’s office to find unregistered felons and sex offenders living in Illinois nursing homes. When visiting Illinois nursing homes unannounced, authorities are also interviewing nursing home residents and nursing home staff at the Illinois facilities with histories of serious resident safety breaches. Illinois Governor Pat Quinn is also working to introduce a comprehensive package of nursing home safety-reform bills in the near future.

The nursing home injury attorneys at Levin & Perconti are glad that vulnerable nursing home residents are finally getting the attention they need and deserve. For too long, residents have been neglected, being abused under the radar. Recently, Governor Quinn’s Nursing Home Safety Task Force completed a 52-page plan to overhaul our state of Illinois’s troubled nursing home system. The task force was formed after a Tribune investigation documented rapes, attacks, and murders at Illinois and Chicago nursing homes that serve the area’s poorest residents. Particularly troublesome in Illinois is its reliance on nursing homes to house younger psychiatric patients, including more than 3,000 with felony records. This is an issue that Levin & Perconti has often highlighted in its Illinois nursing home abuse blog. More than a dozen early nursing home safety bills have already been introduced by nursing home advocates and the nursing home industry.

Click here to read the full Chicago Tribune article about the increased safety push.

Posted by Levin & Perconti | | Email This Post

Posted In: Illinois statutes and Chicago Municipal Codes , Legislation , Nursing Home Abuse

| Share
September 5, 2008

The Dangers of Hot Water: Burn Injuries and Personal Injuries

Personal injuries and burn injuries can result from the use of tap water that is too hot for the human body to handle. It is estimated that nearly 5,000 individuals seek treatment from the emergency room on an annual basis relating to burn injuries they have received. In order to prevent serious personal injuries and burn injuries it is recommended that homes have water heater thermostat’s set no higher than 120 degrees Fahrenheit. In order to prevent burn injury liability and to prevent a burn injury lawyer from seeking damages for injuries on behalf of housing tenants a landlord in control of water thermostat should make sure the thermostat is set properly. Landloards in apartment buildings must take reasonable steps to make sure water temperatures are safe to prevent burn injury lawsuits from occurring. Tenants who have suffered burn injuries and personal injuries and want to file a burn injury lawsuit against a landlord or housing management company may have the right to do so if the recommended water temperature safety standards are not followed . To read more about recommendations on keeping your home burn injury free information can be found here from the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Posted by Levin & Perconti | | Email This Post

Posted In: Burn Injury , Illinois statutes and Chicago Municipal Codes , Land Owner liability

| Share
August 11, 2008

Illinois city aims to lower worker injury claims with bonus offer

Hoping to lower Illinois workers’ compensation claims, the city of Springfield has approved a collective bargaining agreement that will pay employees for not getting hurt. Workers covered by the contract will get $250 per year for the first four years of injury-free employment, then $750 in the fifth year. The amount paid steadily increases. For example, an employee who worked for 30 years without getting hurt would get a lump-sum payment of $3900 upon retirement, in addition to the $21,750 the city would pay out in annual installments over three decades.

For the full article.

Posted by Levin & Perconti | | Email This Post

Posted In: Illinois statutes and Chicago Municipal Codes , Workers' Compensation

| Share
July 2, 2008

Family of Chicago, Illinois Boy Killed in Gate Accident Files a Wrongful Death Lawsuit

A gate accident that caused serious injuries and death to a young Chicago, Illinois boy has turned into a lawsuit. A wrongful death lawsuit has been filed against the negligent management company who was responsible for the gate. Construction accidents and premises liability lawsuits occur when management and property owners are negligent and do not make sure their machines and their properties are in safe conditions. The Chicago, Illinois gate accident has resulted in the wrongful death suit on behalf of the boy who was only three when he perished. Chicago municipal code violations may also be investigated further in the case. To read the most current update on this story click here.

Posted by Levin & Perconti | | Email This Post

Posted In: Amusement Park Accidents , Construction Injury , Illinois statutes and Chicago Municipal Codes , Injuries to Minors and Children , Wrongful Death

| Share
July 1, 2008

Child Death on Chicago Housing Authority Property Related to Building Code Violations

Building code violations in a Chicago, Illinois building may have caused the death of a three year old child who died after suffering premises liability injuries. Chicago code violations in the area surrounded the iron gate that killed the boy. Faulty repairs to the gate may have caused the gate premises accident. As questions remain on the liability for the boy’s death one thing remains clear that an innocent Chicago, Illinois boy died on Chicago Housing Authority grounds. The management company of the premises may be liable for the faulty housing area. To read more on this story click here.

Posted by Levin & Perconti | | Email This Post

Posted In: Construction Injury , Illinois statutes and Chicago Municipal Codes , Injuries to Minors and Children , Land Owner liability

| Share
May 5, 2008

Levin & Perconti File a Personal Injury Lawsuit in Cook County Against the City of Chicago

Levin & Perconti have filed a personal injury lawsuit against the City of Chicago seeking damages in excess of $50,000 after a woman was injured by a dangerous and improperly-maintained sidewalk on the city’s south side. The plaintiff broke her leg and sprained her foot, requiring surgery and extensive rehabilitation. Levin & Perconti claim that the City failed to maintain the sidewalk, that the City failed to inspect the sidewalk, and that the City failed to take reasonable steps to maintain the sidewalk in a safe and usable manner.

Posted by Levin & Perconti | | Email This Post

Posted In: Illinois statutes and Chicago Municipal Codes

| Share
April 30, 2008

Cook County Office Building Fire Personal Injury Lawsuit Settled for $100 Million in Chicago

The 22 victims of the Cook County office building fire from 2003 have settled their personal injury lawsuit against the City of Chicago, Cook County, and the building’s management. The $100 million dollar settlement for this personal injury lawsuit will compensate the victims who were injured when the high rise building fire broke out; most were caught in the stairwells and suffered from the smoke.

See the news story here.

Posted by Levin & Perconti | | Email This Post

Posted In: Burn Injury , Fire Safety , Illinois statutes and Chicago Municipal Codes , Smoke Detectors , Wrongful Death

| Share
March 20, 2008

Illinois Legislature Strikes Blow for Consumer for Consumer Protection

The Bowling Center Safety Act, an Illinois bill that would have insulated bowling alley owners and operators from liability, failed in committee. The bill provides that bowlers and spectators are deemed to have knowledge of the inherent risks at a bowling alley, and they therefore assume this risk, provided that the operator has not violated his duties under the Act.

The numerous deficiencies of this bill are illustrated by a Levin & Perconti case from 2006, involving a bowler who was injured at a bowling alley because the alley had dimmed its lights, reducing visibility. This was compounded by the design of the alley which had a one step difference between the floor level of the alley and the bowling level. Unfortunately, this step was not clearly marked, and because the lights in the alley were nearly off, the bowler lost his balance and struck his head on the seating area where bowlers sat. The injury resulted in severe spinal damage which ultimately led to the bowler’s death. Ultimately, Levin & Perconti was able to recover a nearly $500,000 settlement which was used by the bowler’s family to pay for many of his medical bills. Passage of the Bowling Center Safety Act would likely have insulated this bowling alley, denying the bowler’s family members the right to recover for injuries caused by the bowling alley’s negligence. This bill’s defeat is a victory for consumers and a blow to companies that fail to provide adequate safety and protection at their business.

Click here for complete bill status:

Posted by Levin & Perconti | | Email This Post

Posted In: Illinois statutes and Chicago Municipal Codes , Tort Reform

| Share
November 13, 2007

Settlement of $6 million announced in tragic fire that claimed the lives of six Chicago children

A $6 million settlement was announced today by John J. Perconti and Patricia M. Gifford of Chicago personal injury firm Levin & Perconti for the deaths of six children and for the injuries of two children on September 3, 2006 in a Rogers Park apartment fire. The settlement was approved by Judge Elizabeth Budzinski today in the Circuit Court of Cook County. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the Ramirez and Ramos families. Augusta & Amado Ramirez lost five children in the fire, Kevin, Idaly, Sucette, Erik and Vanessa Ramirez and two other children, William and Natali Ramirez suffered severe burn injuries. A settlement was also reached on behalf of the Ramos family for the death of their daughter, Scarlet Ramos.

On September 3, 2006, a fire broke out at 7706 North Marshfield in Rogers Park claiming the lives of six innocent children and severely injuring two others. Five of the Ramirez children and the Ramos’ only daughter perished in this fire.

A personal injury lawsuit and a wrongful death lawsuit were filed on September 21, 2006 on behalf of the Ramirez and Ramos families against Marshway Limited Partnership, Marshway, L.L.C., and CIG Management L.L.C.

Continue reading "Settlement of $6 million announced in tragic fire that claimed the lives of six Chicago children" »

Posted by Levin & Perconti | | Email This Post

Posted In: Building safety , Electrical Safety , Fire Safety , Illinois statutes and Chicago Municipal Codes , Injuries to Minors and Children , Levin & Perconti in the Community , Smoke Detectors , Wrongful Death

| Share
November 12, 2007

Press Conference scheduled for Rogers Park fire case

A press conference has been scheduled to formally announce the settlement in the wrongful death lawsuit filed after a Rogers Park fire killed six children ranging from three to fourteen years of age. The fire broke out in one of the several low-income buildings owned by Cornerstone Residential, LLC. The building did not have working smoke detectors.

The conference is scheduled for 10:30 am on November 13, 2007, at Levin & Perconti, the law firm that represented the victim’s families.

Click here for the full article.

Posted by Levin & Perconti | | Email This Post

Posted In: Building safety , Burn Injury , Electrical Safety , Fire Safety , Illinois statutes and Chicago Municipal Codes , Injuries to Minors and Children , Smoke Detectors , Wrongful Death

| Share
July 5, 2007

Water Reclamation District sued for death by suffocation

The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago is the subject of a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the families of two Chicago area men who died while working in a water district vault. Recent tests have shown that the vault where the men suffocated contained 6-8% oxygen. Normally, air contains approximately 21% oxygen, but at the levels in the water district facility, it would have been difficult to survive for more than a few minutes. The Illinois families of the victims are suing to recover for personal injuries, wrongful death, and that the water district adhere to safety regulations that will prevent this type of accident from happening again in the future.

Click here for the full article.

Posted by Levin & Perconti | | Email This Post

Posted In: Current Issues , Illinois statutes and Chicago Municipal Codes

| Share

Contact Us

Disclaimer

The purpose of this blog is to deliver news and information that is relevant to our areas of practice. The news and information reported on this blog represent the legal actions of attorneys throughout the United States. Our firm does not claim to represent plaintiffs in all of the lawsuits, settlements, and jury verdicts reported, only those noted as Levin & Perconti cases.

Subscribe

Add to your Google Home Page or Google Reader Add to your My Yahoo!
Add to your My MSN Add to your My AOL

Levin & Perconti Blogs

Subscribe

Subscribe to the blogs's ATOM feed Subscribe to the RSS feed
Add to your My Feedster Add to your NewsGator
Add to your Bloglines Add to your News Burst
Add to your Rojo Add to your Pluck

Recent Entries

98000reasons.jpg

Legal Blogs